Johnny Teague for Congress

Saturday at 9:30am we meet to pray. Men's Bible Study follows. Sunday at 10:30am we deal with the tragedies of our nation. Please join us at Church at the Cross.

Word for the Week – HAVE YOU SEEN THIS CALF?
I made a big mistake with my cows the other day. I have Black Angus on our Ranch and a few Longhorns on our Farm. I breed my Longhorns to my Black Angus bull because they bring more money this way rather than breeding them to other Longhorns. As a result, every year, I take my Longhorn calves to the Ranch for dates with my big bull. The first step that I skip so often is, when I move the calves to be bred, I don’t pen them on my Ranch for a few days so they’ll get acclimated. Any wise rancher would instruct, you must let the calves get acclimated in a pen before releasing them. If you don’t, they’ll jump fences trying to get back to their mothers or their normal pasture.
Little Johnny seldom has the luxury of time to pen the calves up and then release them a few days later. So, I risk it. Most times I do so without consequence. But the other day, the rule proved true. I took the calf you see pictured to the Ranch. She was docile and sweet – around her mother that is. But when I put her at the Ranch, within an hour after I headed for home, she and another calf jumped my fence and were on the run. How do I know? Every ranch neighbor in Walnut Springs/Bosque County were calling me. You would not believe how many sightings these two calves had.
I hopped back in my truck after arriving in Houston to go back and see if I could corral my two wayward calves. At some point the two split. The blonde and white calf went one way, the black and white calf went the other. Like two criminals on the lam, these felt it would be harder to track them if they split up. They were right.
When I got to Walnut Springs, there were no sightings of the black and white calf. The blonde and white one had been seen at the Dollar General, at the Boot shop, near the lumber yard, in the Pullin’s backyard, in Mr. Hilliard’s pasture, running by the Mechanic’s house, jumping three fences, running through other rancher’s fields.
I called all my relatives who live near our Ranch to help me look for her. Cousin Barbara was on the lookout. My Cousin Charles was driving around looking for her. My brother Tracy searched in his truck. The Pullins left their supper to hunt for her, as did my neighbor Mr. Olson. Then my mechanic Mike started looking. A Spanish guy I didn’t know joined in the search. Mr. and Mrs. Hilliard sat out watching from their home. You have never seen so many people trying to help little Johnny find his calf. I say calf. Yes, there were 2 missing, but one must have caught a train out of Dodge. There was no sign of her after the first few hours of running with the blonde and white calf.
The constant refrain, “Have you seen this calf?” I had her picture. Nearly everyone I asked already knew who she was. No picture was needed. I got a call from Mr. A.J. Stewart two days later. He said, “I found your calf. She’s still very restless. Let’s give her a few days to settle down. She seems to be hanging close to my herd. When she starts to come up to feed with them, I’ll get her penned and you can come get her.” What a relief to at least find one. They could be pets, but this is not why I love them, They are money on four legs, a way Lori and I pay our bills. I don’t want to lose a calf anymore than I want to lose our debit card or check book.
What I found so assuring was how many people stopped what they were doing to help me find some missing calves. This is what people in a Christian nation do. They love the Lord. They love people. They do anything they can to help a neighbor. We have lost this I am afraid in our cities, and in huge swaths of our nation. How I pray we stop what we’re doing, and remember who God is and who we are, and then act accordingly. The people of Bosque County sure did.
And that other calf, the black and white one? I prayed for her. You will never believe where I found her. After running all over the county in the cloak of darkness. She showed back up on my Ranch. She had jumped many fences to leave it. She jumped the same number of fences to return to my pasture, one she had only been in a few hours on a Thursday before the great escape. How good is our God!
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Dr. Johnny Teague’s newest book, The Lost Diary of Lucrezia Borgia, Deathbed Confessions of the Pope’s Daughter is available now on Amazon or Histria Books for preorder. He is also the author of The Lost Diary of Mary Magdalene, The Lost Diary of Anne Frank, The Lost Diary of George Washington, small town/BIG LESSONS, Living Your Way Out of a Mess, Preaching Your Way Out of a Mess